The leader who follows high spiritual standards may find himself following his Master on the pathway of rejection, for “he came unto his own and his own received him not.”
J. Gregory Mantle tells of a minister whose congregation refused to accept his message. The minister wanted to lead his people into green pastures and beside still waters, but they were unwilling. The ungodly habits of his choir brought things to a head, and the minister invited the choir to resign. That the choir did, and it also persuaded the congregation to remain silent during the singing on the following Sunday. The minister sang alone.
Finally at wit’s end, God spoke to him. On a park bench, he saw a piece of torn newspaper, which he picked up to read these words: “No man is ever fully accepted until he has, first of all, been utterly rejected.” The minister needed nothing more. He had been utterly rejected for Christ’s sake, and his recognition of the fact was the start of a fruitful ministry. Rejected by people, he had been accepted by God.
When, in response to the clear call of God, A. B. Simpson resigned a pastorate, he learned the meaning of “destitute, despise, forsaken.” He surrendered a comfortable salary, a position as senior pastor in a great American city, and all claim to denominational help for his yet untried work. He had no following, no organization, no resources, a large family to support, and everyone close to him was predicting failure. He often said that he looked down upon the stone in the street for the sympathy denied him by friends he treasured.
“The rugged path of utter rejection was trodden without complaint, and with rejoicing. He knew that though he…was going through fire and water, it was the divinely appointed way to the wealthy place.”
To such a place Simpson was led. At his death he had established five schools for the training of missionaries, hundreds of missionaries in sixteen lands, and many churches in the United States and Canada that exerted a spiritual influence beyond their numbers.
“Often the crowd does not recognize a leader until he has gone, and then they build a monument for him with the stone they threw at him in life.”
For more information on Life Springs Ministries or author Richard W. Cleghorn, click here.
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